


Iwatobi Bread

by SamCyberCat



Series: Zombie Diet [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombies, M/M, and to stop Sousuke from talking to himself for one part of the story, don't worry the OC is only there for world-building purposes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-14
Packaged: 2018-12-02 05:12:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,247
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11502483
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamCyberCat/pseuds/SamCyberCat
Summary: Sousuke knows that the risk of their little group crumbling apart is putting Makoto on edge, so he sets out to make one small act that might help towards putting that right. But when he does, the opportunity to go back to Iwatobi presents itself and Sousuke can't turn that down. Not after all these years.





	Iwatobi Bread

**Author's Note:**

> Recently, Trail Mix hit 2,000 views and I wanted to show my thanks in some way. Because nothing I've written has ever gotten that much attention and it means a lot to me. So since this AU is constantly on my mind anyway, I figured a good way to thank you all for that would be to write another story that follows on from Prison Food and deals with a matter that I've had a few people asking about, i.e. “What's going on [with Rin/back at Iwatobi]?” There might... also be another story that I'm planning to write after this one, but I'll just have to see how it goes. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this and thanks for sticking with me!

Makoto was a stubborn soul, more so than most people realised. But Sousuke knew him better than most and could tell when he was hiding that something was wrong. Which unfortunately was a lot of the time, given their situation. Today more than usual though, something was getting to him. It didn't even have to be something big and Sousuke knew that actually, the smaller the matter was, the more Makoto would beat himself up over letting it take priority over more important things. Then he'd feel even worse than he did to start with. Which was where he was at right now, if Sousuke's assumption was correct.

“It's them, isn't it?” Sousuke asked, as he sat down next to Makoto. He nodded towards the door, beyond which undoubtedly waited a crowd of interested onlookers.

A sigh from Makoto.

“We can't blame them for being curious,” he said, “But I thought that Haru's location was being kept secret from them. Everyone seems to know.”

“You can't expect an entire house to be constructed and people not to guess it's for something unusual. Especially not with all the barred windows,” replied Sousuke, “Honestly, I feel like the council wanted to be obvious about it, so there'd be more chance that we'd fail.”

“Then what?” Makoto asked, glaring darkly at the door.

“I don't know. None of us do. The best we can hope for is that if that happens, Haru will just be taken back to the facility. And I don't even want to think about the worst,” said Sousuke, “That's the big problem we have. But it's not the only thing that's bothering you right now, is it?”

Makoto snorted; “I'm being petty.”

“Then let me listen to you be petty. That's what I'm here for,” Sousuke prompted.

“You're too good for me, you know that?” said Makoto. He turned his head away from the door to look at Sousuke and smiled; “All right then, I was annoyed about... well, about Hayato really. He's not been back here that much since the day he dropped Haru off and I worry about him. I know that he's busy at the facility, but it'd be nice if he spent just one evening with all of us at home. We're supposed to be a family. Do you think... he sees that?”

Hayato was a topic that Sousuke normally avoided entirely around Makoto or Kisumi. Because their opinions on him were different from his and Sousuke didn't want to make waves by calling out some of Hayato's more questionable behaviour. But Sousuke couldn't avoid it when directly asked, so he gave a heavy shrug.

“I think he believes what he's doing is right,” Sousuke replied, because it seemed like a vague enough answer to avoid trouble, “And I also think that if he knew he was upsetting you, then he'd feel bad about it.”

“Maybe... But that's even more of a reason why I shouldn't put upon him when he's already under so much pressure,” said Makoto.

“Asking him to eat dinner with his family isn't putting upon him. When I was his age, I always ate dinner with my family,” Sousuke insisted.

“Sousuke, he's older than you think he is,” Makoto chuckled, “When you were his age, you were already running for your life from a zombie outbreak. I think you forget that he's not a kid any more.”

“That's no excuse,” huffed Sousuke. Then he made a decision and got to his feet, ignoring Makoto's raised eyebrow as he did; “I'm going to go get him,” Sousuke announced.

“You don't have to. He might be busy,” Makoto said.

“Then I'm at least going to go ask him. There's no harm in that,” Sousuke replied. Even if in truth he had no intention of coming back here without him.

“I can see that you've made up your mind,” said Makoto. He got to his feet and nodded to Sousuke; “Just... try to be civil with him.”

“I will be if he is,” Sousuke grunted.

“Fair enough,” agreed Makoto, “I guess I should let the others know to expect him, since I know you're too stubborn to come home empty-handed. And... thanks, Sousuke.”

“You're welcome,” said Sousuke.

The words might have come out gruffly, but the feeling of getting praise from Makoto still made Sousuke feel light, even now. As he turned to leave, he felt Makoto's hand on his back, only for a moment. It was all he needed. It gave him strength.

“See you when you get back,” Makoto said.

“Hopefully sooner rather than later,” replied Sousuke.

And with that, he headed out of the door, closing it swiftly behind him to stop anyone else from getting in. The locked clicked, keeping the others safe. Then Sousuke pushed ahead through the crowd, ignoring all of the questions from people who wanted to know the truth about Haru, as if Haru was their dirty little secret...

***

The facility was as ominous as always, but Sousuke usually got through due to his connection to Hayato. No one asked questions, at least to a certain point. If Sousuke tried to get in somewhere he shouldn't be, then he had no doubts that someone would ask questions eventually, though he had yet to test that theory.

Today might be the day however, as when he walked across the yard he caught sight of Hayato before he'd even entered the building itself. Hayato was stood talking with a pilot that Sousuke gathered he had some history with and he looked as if he was trying to hide that he was stressed. Which wasn't unusual for Hayato. The boy didn't hide his stress very well, for all he liked to believe that he had some kind of cool image. Sousuke going over there would probably only make his stress levels soar even higher, but that wasn't going to stop him.

“-know that you can't stop me, right?” purred Hayato. Sousuke hadn't heard the rest of the conversation, but it was obvious that Hayato was trying to get something out of this guy. So Sousuke kept quiet as he approached and listened in. Hayato went on; “...I mean you could go get clearance, but that'd take ages and it'd put you behind schedule. All I'm saying is, if I was the first person flying back to Iwatobi after the hiatus, then I wouldn't want the whole team being delayed to be on my head.”

The pilot had seen Sousuke and he seemed to be hastily trying to draw Hayato's attention to him through a series of nods. But he wasn't fast enough. As soon as Sousuke heard the word 'Iwatobi' a light switched on behind his eyes and he made his presence known all by himself.

“Thought you guys weren't going back to Iwatobi,” he said, loudly and pointedly, “That place is bad for Haru, right?”

The colour drained from Hayato's face as he turned to face Sousuke. In an instant, he went from the smooth guy trying to manipulate his co-worker to a nervous boy, scared of being reprimanded by his big brother's angry friend. Though to give Hayato his credit, he recovered well enough. Faster than most people did in the face of a displeased Sousuke.

“Haru's not here right now,” Hayato said, “And the facility only agreed not to take samples from Iwatobi, a term that they're not going back on yet. But it doesn't mean they're going to stop monitoring Iwatobi altogether.”

“What do you need to monitor?” Sousuke asked.

“We can't get into that kind of detail with a civilian,” Hayato evaded. The civilian card was his favourite excuse.

“All right, don't tell me. But I've just heard that it's the first time you've gone back there in a while and it must be for something important if you're trying to trick this guy into taking you along,” replied Sousuke.

“I'm not trying to trick anyone,” Hayato dismissed, though he did shoot a quick glance towards the pilot to check that he wasn't taken in by what Sousuke had just said, “...Would you believe that maybe I just want to go back to Iwatobi? It meant a lot to me when I was a kid.”

“It's been riddled with zombies for probably as long as you can remember,” Sousuke pointed out, “Doesn't seem like an ideal spot to go reminisce about your old swimming class.”

“You don't have to understand it, but that's my reason,” Hayato stated.

Yet to the contrary, Sousuke did understand it. He'd never been back to Iwatobi himself since he'd fled from it with Makoto all those years ago. He'd left it behind, along with most of the people he'd known and all his hopes of a normal future. Sure, through leaving Iwatobi he'd gone on to help his family to safety and eventually fall in love with Makoto, but that didn't change the regret that he felt when he thought back to the place. Part of him... might have liked to have gone to see it again, even just for closure. But he'd never been given the chance to do that before.

Until now.

“So the way I see it, this guy is trying to get his team out there and you're arguing that stopping you from going with him will only take up more of his time?” Sousuke checked.

“That's exactly it,” replied Hayato.

“That helicopter over there?” asked Sousuke, with a nod towards the one helicopter that was very obviously filled up with a team of impatient facility guards.

“That's the one,” Hayato clarified.

“Good. Then let's go.”

With that, Sousuke marched across the yard, towards the helicopter. Behind him, he heard both Hayato and the pilot scramble to follow him. He didn't look back, but he could picture the panic on both of their faces and he smirked at that. Neither of them had the power to stop him, though Sousuke knew that the guards onboard would have those tranquilliser guns they used on the zombies. Hopefully they wouldn't fire on a civilian though.

“What the heck do you think you're doing? You can't come with us!” Hayato yelled.

The guards backed away as Sousuke climbed aboard and Hayato followed behind him. Sousuke wasn't sure which one between the two of them made the guards more nervous.

“You just said that it'd waste too much time to get clearance, so there isn't anyone around to stop me,” Sousuke replied, plonking himself down on a seat, “Better to ask for forgiveness than permission. Right, Hayato?”

“Yes, but... I work here at least,” Hayato protested, running a hand through his hair like he always did when he was stressed, “You could get us all fired!”

Sousuke didn't budge from where he was sat. He folded his arms and then leaned forward to stare into Hayato's eyes.

“Then the way I see it, you'd be better off making sure that no one finds out, yeah?” he said.

“What are your orders, sir?” one of the guards asked Hayato.

Even though Hayato wasn't supposed to be here, it seemed that the team still respected him as some kind of authority. Sousuke was going to use that to get what he wanted. Which right now was to get to Iwatobi. He wasn't going to stop to think about the whys or even if he should be doing this at all. There'd be time for that later. But Sousuke wasn't going to let this opportunity slip by and get added to his growing pile of regrets.

Hayato sighed; “Well, I can't argue with him! J-just... get a move on and hope we have protective gear in his size.”

The pilot seemed hesitant, but he dared not argue with Hayato. As Sousuke watched the poor guy go to take his seat at the front, he realised that he felt sorry for him. He was probably a decent guy, far too decent for Hayato. Hopefully one day the pilot would grow a spine and tell Hayato where to go. But it was convenient for Sousuke that today wasn't that day.

As Hayato took to a seat as well (pointedly not looking at Sousuke), the door was pulled shut and they were getting ready for take-off. It was only the second time that Sousuke had been in a helicopter. With the first being when he'd come to this damn compound to start with. He never expected he'd be leaving again, but he hoped that he'd be coming back before the end of the day. Back to where his family were waiting for him.

Which reminded him...

“Makoto wants you to be home for dinner tonight,” he told Hayato.

“And if I don't go then I suppose you'll just drag me back?” Hayato muttered.

“So you do learn eventually. Looks like I owe Haru money,” teased Sousuke, though he knew the joke wouldn't be well-received.

No response from Hayato, so Sousuke turned his attention out the window. He watched as the landing dock disappeared behind them and they lifted off towards the one source of natural light in the whole compound. Their exit into the outside world.

***

It would have been nice to say something poetic as Iwatobi came into view, but Sousuke wasn't the poetic type. All the same, he felt his heart race as he saw it come closer. From the sky it looked far too much like the town he remembered, even if it had been run down over the years. There were figures walking around on the streets below and Sousuke knew what they were. Of course he knew...

“Iwatobi is particularly swarmed, despite it's small size,” Hayato informed him, seeming to have gotten over his mood, “It's been pin-pointed as one of the locations where the outbreak started, so I think that might have something to do with it. We have one fenced-off area where we land, but you still have to be on your guard.”

“I was never planning not to be,” assured Sousuke, “So what are you guys doing here today anyway?”

“Mostly taking notes,” Hayato said, dropping the act that he couldn't tell a civilian anything, since Sousuke had muscled his way into their day trip anyway, “It's been a while since we've been able to properly monitor it, so we need to document if there's been any changes. Population size, territory shifts, signs of uninfected – that kind of stuff.”

“Bet you don't see many uninfected these days,” Sousuke mused.

“You'd be surprised,” replied Hayato, “There's definitely less than there was, but there are still a few people in Japan who weren't interested in coming to the compound. We can't force them, but we like to keep track on where they are if we can.”

Sousuke had never heard about survivors not coming to the compound before, though he assumed that was because it wasn't a matter that the council wanted to advertise. Even so, just hearing that there were people out there who refused to go to that prison... Sousuke envied them. Maybe they were at a higher risk, but Sousuke knew that he'd go back to his cottage in the mountains without hesitation if the opportunity presented itself. It was too late for that now though...

“Mind if I explore around while you work then?” he asked.

“I'd rather you didn't, but I know I can't stop you,” Hayato replied, “And I'm sure I can't convince you to wear the safety gear either, can I?”

“Not as long as you're not wearing it,” Sousuke pointed out.

“In that case, just make sure to be back here by 5:00pm or else I'll come looking for you. And try not to get infected. I don't want to have to explain that to the others,” said Hayato.

Sousuke nodded. He had no intention of getting infected, not as long as the others still needed him. But he'd stay on his guard. Perhaps it had been a long time since Sousuke had been around any other zombies besides Haru, but he still felt confident that he'd always handled himself well enough with them in the past. The zombies of Iwatobi were probably older and more worn by now, so hopefully they wouldn't be as quick on the uptake.

He jumped down from the helicopter after with the others and noted that they all quickly got to work, most of them headed for a building inside the fence, while some guards patrolled the perimeter to make sure that no zombies had come through. They all seemed to want to avoid being around Sousuke and Hayato, which suited Sousuke just fine. He didn't want to stick with them, even if Hayato did.

So he made his own way over to the fence and tested its strength. Seemed sturdy enough, so he climbed onto it in a few movements, ignoring Hayato's calls that there was a gate. It'd do everyone better if they didn't risk opening the gate anyway and the exercise would do Sousuke good. When he reached the other side and landed on the ground with a thud, he had to admit to himself that it had taken a lot more out of him than it would have done years ago. He was getting old.

But as he got to his feet, that thought ebbed away in comparison to the one that told him he was properly in Iwatobi now, without anyone else to protect him from what lay there. It was just him and a town that he remembered so fondly from his teenage years. It might not have been his home, Sousuke was a Sano boy through and through, but it was Makoto's home and Haru's home. And... home to many friends who would now probably never leave it...

He'd been trying not to think about them the whole time, but as Sousuke wandered the streets, he couldn't stop himself from wondering if he'd run into any of them. He wasn't sure he could take it if he did. All this time, he'd never been sure exactly what had happened to Gou. He'd just read the context clues that Rin left about her before he... had also been infected. Part of Sousuke wanted to know for sure. He'd seen some of the others – Nitori, Momo and Momo's older brother – but not Gou. If he saw her here today, then he'd know, but he wasn't sure if he could take it...

...He wasn't sure if he could take seeing either of the Matsuoka siblings.

As he wandered around, it seemed as if that wish wasn't going to be granted anyway. Because while he did see a fair few zombies, none of them were anyone he knew. They were still people, who'd once had families and lives, but to Sousuke they were just people. He'd been dulled too much to feel strongly for them. There was only the vague sense of sorrow that never quite left.

The zombies littered the roads. Some of them wandered around, but most of them sat idle or even lay down. They didn't expect anyone to come through. Sousuke might have thought they'd be all over the fence as soon as the helicopter landed, but something about these zombies seemed... different. He wouldn't put it past the facility to do something to them that affected their behaviour. Haru had said that the ones he'd seen the facility bring in for testing on the day of his trial seemed different from usual, as if they were under some kind of trance.

Even so, Sousuke kept his wits about him and stayed out of sight as much as he could. He covered a good distance that way, until he was eventually on the coast. There was no cover out here, but Sousuke couldn't resist standing on the beach one more time. The salt air smelled even stronger after years of being away from it and the waves lapped at the shore without any signs that there was a difference to before the outbreak had happened. But Sousuke knew better. The water was probably infected as well. It was a worldwide phenomenon, after all.

He stayed there for a while and even closed his eyes, despite the risk. There seemed to be no zombies here, so perhaps the universe would let him have this one moment. A moment to pretend that he was here on the beach in Iwatobi and everything was fine... They were all here, every last person. Makoto was here with him, Haru wasn't infected, Kisumi was safe and Hayato was still an innocent little kid, instead of an obnoxious researcher who'd been warped by the outbreak. Even Rin, Gou and all the others were there... swimming out in the ocean, waiting for Sousuke to join them. It was a good fantasy.

...There was a noise from the water. A heavy thud of something hitting against wood and then being dragged.

Sousuke's eyes shot open. He stared around towards the docks.

That was when he saw a person. An actual, uninfected person! Who was dragging a lobster pot out of the ocean by a rope, as casually as if he did this every day. It could almost be part of Sousuke's fantasy, but when he saw the handgun gleam against the stranger's hip, Sousuke realised that it wasn't. He was still very much in an infected town.

All the same, Sousuke wasn't going to let this moment slip by. He jogged over towards the dock and called out as he went. The stranger let go of the rope and the lobster pot fell back into the water with a loud splash. Then he grabbed his handgun from his side and turned it on Sousuke, seemingly not fazed by the fact that Sousuke obviously wasn't a zombie.

“I'm clean!” Sousuke called, “Came into town with some guys from the compound. I didn't expect to find anyone.”

The gun was lowered, but the guy didn't put it away just yet.

“From the looks of you, I'd have guessed that the compound had started some weird recruitment programme,” he said, “I wouldn't put it past them.”

“Neither would I, but that's not why I'm here,” said Sousuke, “I used to live in Sano and I... had a lot of friends from Iwatobi. When the chance to come back came up, I was curious.”

“A Sano man, huh? Me too,” the guy said. Then he leaned in closer to try to get a better look at Sousuke, despite being up on the dock while Sousuke was down on the beach; “...Actually, I think I might recognise you. The Yamazaki son, right? We used to use your family's store all the time before the outbreak. I figured you were dead after I saw your dad's body in the garden.”

“No... We g-got away...” Sousuke replied. It was the first time in too long that he'd thought of his father; “My mother and me. A few others as well. Two of my friends from Iwatobi and the Shigino brothers.”

“Kisumi...!”

The man's eyes went wide and suddenly Sousuke realised that he knew him, even if they were both a lot older now. He'd been one of the guys who Kisumi used to hang around with, because Kisumi was a social butterfly and knew almost everyone in Sano. Sousuke never talked much to this guy, but he knew of him, at least. And clearly the man remembered Kisumi.

“Yeah, we're all living in the compound now,” Sousuke informed, “Kisumi's doing well.”

“Glad to hear it,” the man replied.

Then he looked down below and Sousuke stepped back to give him the space to jump off the ledge. He landed hard on the sand, but got back up quickly. He was probably used to running and jumping from living out here with the zombies.

“Sorry, but I'm not sure I remember your name...” Sousuke admitted, “...It was Tenfuji, right?”

“That's right, Chiyo Tenfuji,” he was told, “And don't worry about it, I only recall you as the Yamazaki son who glared a lot.”

“...Sousuke,” said Sousuke.

Then he held out his hand and Chiyo took it, even if he still had the gun in his other hand. It probably didn't reward you to be too trusting around here and Sousuke couldn't blame him for that. They shook and then nodded, before letting go. Then Chiyo turned to walk away and motioned for Sousuke to follow. He didn't seem too bothered about leaving his lobster pot behind, so he couldn't have been doing that badly for food. Sousuke had so many questions, but he wasn't the only one.

“Man, I'm so glad to hear that Kisumi and Hayato made it out all right,” Chiyo said, “All these years we never knew for sure. By the time we got to his house there was only his infected parents, but we never saw either Kisumi or Hayato in Sano, so I didn't let go of the hope that they'd made it out.”

“You say 'we'... are there more of you?” Sousuke asked.

“In my group there's only me and a friend. He's not with me today. Doesn't like coming into the towns unless I'm going out on a boat and need help,” answered Chiyo, “But there's other people around for sure. I see them sometimes, but most people keep to themselves. It's safer that way.”

They climbed up some steps and off the beach, back onto the roads. The street was mostly clear, save for some distant zombies who weren't paying attention to them right now. Sousuke nodded towards them as they walked.

“This lot seems more placid than they were when I last saw them,” he said.

“Your friends from the compound do something to them,” Chiyo replied, “I don't know what exactly, but any city that's being monitored by them is like that. If you go anywhere else then the zombies are just as feral as you'd expect.”

“So that's why you're here?” Sousuke guessed.

“It's easy pickings. I'm not about to make life harder for myself if I can avoid it,” said Chiyo, “The worst I have to put up with is that sometimes groups from the compound will try to convince me to go back with them, but I haven't seen them for a while. It surprised me when the helicopter flew over today.”

“There was an incident and they stopped bringing zombies in from Iwatobi for a while,” Sousuke said. He wasn't sure it was a good idea to tell Chiyo about Haru. The lack of trust went both ways; “From what I've heard, they're just doing a check-up today. Making sure everything's still been running smoothly while they've been away.”

“That's the compound for you. Always likes to think that they're in control...” Chiyo muttered.

They reached a fork in the road and Sousuke stopped. Chiyo kept going for a few moments, but then noticed that he wasn't being followed and turned back to look at Sousuke.

“Can we go this way?” Sousuke asked.

“Sure. Any particular reason?” said Chiyo, as he doubled back to join him.

“There's a swim club up there. It... meant a lot to my friends. I'd like to see it one last time,” said Sousuke.

“Oh sure, I know the place,” Chiyo replied. The two of them started up the road; “It's infested inside though, so I wouldn't recommend going in. Most of the zombies are tame enough, but if you get too close, they'll still try to bite. I've had a few near-misses with one that hangs around there.”

Sousuke didn't want to hope what he was hoping, but he couldn't help himself. His heart beat faster as they walked, potentially in the direction of someone who... Sousuke had failed so long ago. But he kept his face blank, because it wouldn't do to have Chiyo asking too many questions.

“So why don't you want to go to the compound?” Sousuke asked as they walked. Because it seemed like a good way to make conversation and he was curious.

“Don't trust them,” Chiyo bluntly responded, “And the compound seems like a bad idea. So many people in one place seems like fish in a barrel to me. Plus, it's underground, right? If infection breaks out, then there's only one way to leave and I'd put money on that council of yours making sure they're the first ones out.”

“They're no council of mine,” argued Sousuke, “But you're probably right, yeah. If I'd known what I was getting into back then, I wouldn't have gone with them either. But for the moment it seems like the safest place for my family. At least until we fall out of their favour.”

“And why would you fall out of favour...?” Chiyo asked.

He'd said too much. But he wasn't about to say any more. Instead Sousuke turned to look at what remained of the ITSC Returns building, which they'd just drawn level with. It was a shadow of its former self. The windows were smashed, the door was off its hinges and years of decay were present, though it seemed as if some determined plant-life was creeping through to take hold of the walls.

“...I'm going inside,” Sousuke announced.

“Bad idea,” warned Chiyo.

“You don't have to come with me,” said Sousuke.

He marched ahead without looking back, though the sound of footsteps told him that Chiyo had followed. It was dark side, once they'd gotten away from the entrance. There were signs of infested all around them, as well as the remains of many struggles. One of those struggles, Sousuke had been involved in...

“The changing rooms are a deathtrap,” Chiyo said, talking quietly now, “Better to go in the pool this way, so there's less chance of being jumped.”

Sousuke was obstinate, but he wasn't an idiot. So this time he listened to Chiyo and avoided the changing rooms, instead going through the larger door, through to where the pool waited. It was... worn, just like everything else. When Sousuke has last seen it, the pool had been filled with clear water and the smell of chlorine, because for all anyone had known back then, it was just another day. Until the outbreak hit. People had once come here to swim and enjoy themselves... But now the water was like a murky brown swamp that could contain anything. It might have been better if it had drained away, but instead it stayed here, refusing to leave. Just as stubborn as Sousuke.

“They hide in there sometimes,” Chiyo said, “Knew a girl once... she came in here for a dare and one of them just crawled right out of the pool and grabbed her. Zombies can't drown as far as I know. They're just usually not motivated enough to go too far in water.”

“Then what were they doing in here? Waiting? Seems like more effort to go to than you say they would,” mumbled Sousuke, not looking away from the pool.

“Well, the ones I saw were dressed for swimming, so I reckon they were infected in the pool and then just didn't come out until a potential victim came along,” Chiyo answered, “I doubt there's any left in there now, but even so... it's just not that safe to be indoors in the cities.”

“No one left...” whispered Sousuke.

His hopes drained out of him, even though he wasn't sure that he should have been hoping in the first place. It was probably better not to come across anyone that he knew. The universe had probably spared him by keeping the pool empty.

“Is there anywhere else you wanna check in here?” Chiyo asked.

“...Nah, let's just go,” concluded Sousuke.

They made to walk away from the pool again. Yet as they turned their backs on it, Sousuke heard shuffling from one of the changing rooms. He looked towards it.

“There will be zombies in there, that's why I'd rather not go in,” Chiyo commented.

But Sousuke hardly heard him. Because his eyes were transfixed. A shadow appeared in the frame of the door. Then it stepped out into the light. Red hair, dulled with time. Eyes staring as they came into focus. Sharp teeth, visible from a jaw that hung open.

“Rin!”

“Shit! Don't yell like that...!” hissed Chiyo, “You'll attract its attention!”

Though it was too late for that. Rin had already seen them. He made his way towards them, slowly at first. He had to get around the pool to reach them, which hindered his progress. And Sousuke found that he was rooted to the spot. Even when Chiyo tugged his arm, he didn't move.

“That's not your friend any more. It's just a zombie, okay?” Chiyo urged, “Don't fall into that trap. This is how people die. Your family is counting on you!”

Sousuke didn't hear him. Not even a little. His eyes were locked onto Rin's... And Rin was this way because of him. Because Sousuke didn't get his shit together as quickly as he needed to. If only Sousuke had stepped up sooner, instead of relying on Rin to take charged and know what to do. Rin was a zombie now and it was Sousuke's fault.

...Rin was coming towards them...

A shot.

Chiyo had fired his gun. Before Sousuke knew what he was doing he turned around to punch Chiyo in the face. Both of them were strong-built, but a punch from Sousuke was something that would dislodge anyone. Chiyo staggered backwards. Then he shook his head to recover himself and looked at Sousuke like he was mad.

“We need to go now!” he begged.

“I'm not leaving...!” Sousuke growled.

He watched as Chiyo looked over Sousuke's shoulder and then back at him. Judging from the fear in his eyes, Rin was close. Chiyo backed up even further.

“Look, I'm sorry... I don't want to leave you, but I've got someone counting on me as well,” Chiyo whimpered, “...I c-can't stay! And you shouldn't either! Please, think of Kisumi and come to your senses...!”

With that, Chiyo turned and fled from the room. Sousuke didn't watch him go, because there was no need. They weren't each other's responsibility now. Instead, Sousuke turned back to Rin. Just in time. Rin was almost on him.

Sousuke grabbed him and wrestled him away, but Rin fought back. And he was strong. Perhaps Rin was the smaller of the two, but Sousuke knew better than anyone that he housed a great deal of strength within him. The zombie determination seemed to amplify it. Maybe every other zombie in Iwatobi was dulled from whatever the researchers were doing, but Rin's spirit had to be stronger. Because he was Rin.

They were on each other again. Those teeth were perhaps the most dangerous of any zombie. One bite from them and Sousuke wouldn't be going back to the compound. But Sousuke didn't intend to get bitten. That wasn't why he'd come here today.

He twisted Rin's arms around his back, but Rin was crafty. Before Sousuke knew what was happening, Rin shoved his weight to the side and pulled Sousuke along with him... into the pool.

The water was so slimy that it barely felt like water any more. It was almost sludge. Sousuke pulled his head up out of it, trying not to swallow any, but Rin wasn't deterred. What was infected water to a zombie? While Sousuke took this moment to recover, Rin went for him again. Sousuke kicked out and through some miracle his kick made impact. He watched as Rin recoiled back across the pool and then dived at him while he had the chance.

Sousuke didn't stop moving. He charged until he had Rin pinned against the edge on the pool. Rin squirmed around, trying to bite with every ounce of strength he had. But Sousuke held him steady.

And then he started talking...

“Makoto and Haru are safe!” he yelled, “Kisumi and Hayato as well. So is my mother. I found them and I led them all to safety. I looked after them, because you couldn't. But you would have wanted me to. I let you down... but I didn't let them down, Rin!” There were tears in Sousuke's eyes, but he didn't let go. He needed to tell Rin this, “...I don't know what the future will hold, but I know that I'll protect them as long as I live. And I hope you can find peace, knowing that...”

He smiled at Rin, who was still thrashing about and trying to get free. For a moment they looked into each other's eyes and even though Sousuke knew that Rin was gone, part of him wanted to believe that Rin would see him smiling one last time and would remember this. That wherever he was, Rin now knew his friends were safe, because Sousuke had come to deliver that message to him.

With that resolve, Sousuke let go.

He pulled away from Rin and turned to dart off across the pool while he still had the chance. It would only take a second for Rin to recover.

Sousuke launched himself at the side and then pulled his body up in a single movement, because there wasn't more time. He ran and he didn't look back. He couldn't look back. But he had done this and he was satisfied.

...As Sousuke headed out of the door, he didn't see Rin stop still in the water. He didn't see that Rin watched him, but made no attempt to come after him. He didn't see Rin dip down below the surface, until his head was hidden beneath the water.

Zombies didn't drown, but Rin's final resting place would be the ITSC Returns pool.

***

“So you met some guy who knew Kisumi and me?” Hayato asked.

The sound of the helicopter blades whirled from outside. They were on their way back to the compound.

“Yeah, though you'd probably be too young to remember him very well,” said Sousuke, “He seemed to be doing okay for himself. Said there's a few people out there living like he is.”

“Well, we can't take them to the compound if they seriously don't want to go,” replied Hayato, “They're the ones putting themselves at risk.”

“But you could trick them into going, like you did with us,” Sousuke reminded.

“You're never going to let me live that down, are you?” said Hayato. Then he sighed and looked out of the window; “...I made a mistake, but this isn't the time or the place to talk about it. Maybe when we get back for dinner tonight.”

“So you're going?” Sousuke checked.

“Mostly because I don't want you to drag me back,” replied Hayato.

“That's good enough for me,” said Sousuke.

With that decided, the two of them settled down for the rest of the journey. It wouldn't be fair to say that the silence was entirely a comfortable one, because they still had the eyes of the others on them and everyone else was probably keenly aware of the fact that the two of them shouldn't be there. It hadn't seemed like such a big deal going out, but coming back in, the guards were potentially coming towards punishment for doing wrong.

Would Hayato take the blame for his actions? Sousuke doubted it, but he was probably going to find out.

As the helicopter came to land, there was another researcher waiting for them, but she seemed less concerned with telling them off and more concerned with just talking to Hayato. She didn't even notice Sousuke in her panic. Something had happened.

“Can it wait? I've had kind of a long day and I was hoping to go home to my family tonight,” Hayato said, as the researcher hovered around him.

“I wish it could, Dr. Shigino, but there's been some news from the Manchester compound...” she muttered.

“Okay, I'm coming,” sighed Hayato. He turned to Sousuke; “I promise that I'll be back tonight.”

“And I promise that I won't come get you as long as you are,” warned Sousuke.

With that, Hayato allowed himself to be whisked away by the other researcher, who was frantically whispering about something. Maybe Sousuke should have stayed to find out what, but it probably didn't involve him and he was exhausted from everything that had happened today. So he made his way out, with none of the others from the helicopter trying to stop him. They were probably glad to see the back of Sousuke, since he ran the risk of getting them all into trouble if anyone found out that they'd taken him to Iwatobi.

***

It was all worth it to see the worry drain away out of Makoto's face. Maybe Sousuke had been away a long time, but he'd done what Makoto had asked him to and now he'd get the family dinner that he'd wanted. As well as that, Sousuke had more news for him...

“I should probably wait until I can tell Haru. And I promise I will tell him later. But there's... something else,” Sousuke added, as Makoto settled by his side and slipped his arm around him, “...I went to Iwatobi.”

There was silence. Makoto was stunned and Sousuke knew it. But he was also one of the most resilient people that Sousuke knew, so he recovered quickly.

“And what happened...?” Makoto asked, because he knew that there had to be something.

“I learned a lot. There's other uninfected people still living out there in Japan. I met an old friend of Kisumi's while I was walking around and we got talking. I'll tell Kisumi about that as well,” said Sousuke, “But most importantly... I found Rin.”

Makoto's hand squeezed tightly at Sousuke's side. He was shaking. Because Makoto had taken the loss of Rin harder than anyone. Surprisingly even harder than Sousuke or Haru had done. It took a long time until Makoto had been able to move away from it and even now, the mere mention of Rin was enough to send him back into a downwards spiral. But not this time. Not with what Sousuke had to say.

“I'm sorry...” Makoto whispered.

“Don't be. Don't be sorry,” said Sousuke, “I wanted to find him. So when I did, I got a hold of him and I told him that you were all safe and doing well. That's... what he would have wanted. And now he knows.”

There was a hiccup from Makoto. The grip at Sousuke's side slackened and Makoto pulled his arm away. Then he buried his face in his hands and started to cry. A loud cry, with nothing held back. Sousuke shuffled around to hold him, hugging Makoto tight. He wasn't pushed away. Makoto cried into his chest for what felt like forever and Sousuke stayed there, because Makoto needed him to. He even... cried himself. Though he was much quieter about it. This was Makoto's moment.

...Then after so long, it was done. The wails became sobs and the sobs became nothing. Makoto pulled back a little, but not out of Sousuke's hold. His eyes were red and puffy, but despite that he somehow managed to smile.

“Thank you...” Makoto mumbled.

It was all that needed to be said for now. So they let that be the last words that there were until dinner, when Hayato would come home and the others would be told. There'd be plenty more to be said then.


End file.
